Clue HQ – Dungeon of Doom

Back to Clue HQ for our last game at their Warrington branch! (sad face) We saved Dungeon of Doom until last as I’d read a few review that made it seem rather a toughie, and we needed to find that elusive 3rd player! Luckily, Ian’s mum was on hand to help out and only too happy to join us…

Theme:
“Your friend has been wrongly accused of murder, and sentenced to death. They are locked in the confines of a medieval dungeon and it’s up to you to break in and save them. Can you free your friend and escape the dungeon together before the guard patrols the area again. You’ve got 60 minutes or you’ll all be sentenced to the same fate.”

A nice simple story, which lead to nice simple decor keeping in the normal Clue HQ feeling of a themed puzzle room rather than a fully immersive experience.
In this room, one of your team is locked away by themselves so this does grant a little more immersion than usual, as you can hear them well but can only catch a glimpse of them through the game (until you break them out that is!) .
The theming was nice, but a little sparse. It had touches of “dungeon” about it, with chains adorning the walls and a set of stocks as a centrepiece. This is good to give the impression of a Dungeon, without any scare factor! As we’ve come to expect with Clue HQ, the story delivery and tech in the rooms is great which we really enjoy.

Game Play:
A great game with a fantastic flow that weaved between linear and open seamlessly, with some really good stand out puzzles… and boy did it have a LOT of puzzles, we didn’t stop for the entire time we were in there! A game which requires observation, wit, physical dexterity, maths, literacy, even a little touch of musical knowledge (I LOVED THAT PUZZLE) and a LOT of teamwork.
I think this is one game where team work is absolutely paramount, especially in the first half of the game, lest the prisoner stay captive.
Each puzzle is extremely well thought out, and there were no massive logic leaps. Sometimes in “harder” rooms things are there just to waste time and make the room harder for the sake of it, there was none of this in Dungeon of Doom and whilst some puzzles weren’t strictly on theme, all were incredibly enjoyable and solvable without clues, leading to a real sense of momentum and achievement in the game when a puzzle was solved.
A great game for enthusiasts to try in a small team, and for beginners to take the full compliment to get through the masses of fun puzzles in the room.

Clue System:
Clues were delivered via a screen

Game Host:
Cadie again was our game host, and she ran this game with precision! Delivering clues at EXACTLY the right moment and giving nudges where we needed them. We were quite proud when she said we were on the very low end of number of clues given also! A fabulous game host!

Did we escape?
Yes, in 50 minutes! Sadly this was our last visit to Clue HQ, well… until they open a 7th room! (Please, PRETTY PRETTY PLEASE with a padlock on top!)